diff --git a/app/pom.xml b/app/pom.xml
index 7b94f7f92..805aed5e4 100644
--- a/app/pom.xml
+++ b/app/pom.xml
@@ -1251,6 +1251,12 @@
             <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
             <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
+        <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.google.code.gson/gson -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>com.google.code.gson</groupId>
+            <artifactId>gson</artifactId>
+            <version>2.9.0</version>
+        </dependency>
     </dependencies>
     <build>
         <plugins>
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/topcoder/direct/services/kafka/CreateChallengeMessage.java b/app/src/main/java/com/topcoder/direct/services/kafka/CreateChallengeMessage.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b994ffe75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/topcoder/direct/services/kafka/CreateChallengeMessage.java
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+package com.topcoder.direct.services.kafka;
+
+public class CreateChallengeMessage {
+    public String legacyId;
+    public String topic;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/topcoder/direct/services/kafka/DirectKafkaProducer.java b/app/src/main/java/com/topcoder/direct/services/kafka/DirectKafkaProducer.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dc49b99f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/topcoder/direct/services/kafka/DirectKafkaProducer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+package com.topcoder.direct.services.kafka;
+
+import java.util.Hashtable;
+import com.google.gson.*;
+import java.net.*;
+import java.io.*;
+
+public class DirectKafkaProducer {
+
+    private static DirectKafkaProducer myProducer = null;
+    public static synchronized DirectKafkaProducer getInstance() {
+        if (myProducer == null) { myProducer = new DirectKafkaProducer(); }
+        return myProducer;
+    }
+
+    public final static int CHALLENGE_CREATE = 0;
+
+    private Hashtable<Integer, String> topics = null;
+
+    protected DirectKafkaProducer() {
+        topics = new Hashtable<Integer, String>();
+        topics.put(CHALLENGE_CREATE, "challenge.notification.create");
+    }
+
+    public void postChallengeCreate(long challengeId)
+        throws IOException/*, MalformedUrlException*/ {
+        CreateChallengeMessage ccm = new CreateChallengeMessage();
+        ccm.legacyId = ""+challengeId;
+        ccm.topic = topics.get(CHALLENGE_CREATE);
+        Gson gson = new Gson();
+        String requestBody = gson.toJson(ccm);
+        postEvent(requestBody);
+    }
+
+    private String getUrl() {
+        // get bus api Url from config
+        return System.getenv("bus.api.url");
+    }
+
+    private void doPost(String url, String json)
+        throws IOException {
+        // make HTTPS POST call to api
+        OutputStream os = null;
+        InputStream is = null;
+        HttpURLConnection con = null;
+        try {
+            URL _url = new URL(url);
+            con = (HttpURLConnection) _url.openConnection();
+            con.setRequestMethod("POST");
+            con.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/json");
+            con.setRequestProperty("Accept", "application/json");
+            os = con.getOutputStream();
+            byte[] input = json.getBytes("utf-8");
+            os.write(input, 0, input.length);
+            os.flush();
+            // read just to be sure it sent
+            is = con.getInputStream();
+        } finally {
+            if (os != null) { try { os.close(); } catch (Throwable t) {} }
+            if (is != null) { try { is.close(); } catch (Throwable t) {} }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void postEvent(final String json)
+        throws IOException {
+        new Thread(new Runnable() {
+            public void run() {
+                final String url = getUrl();
+                try {
+                    doPost(url, json);
+                } catch (IOException ioe) {
+                    throw new RuntimeException(ioe);
+                }
+            }
+        }).start();
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/topcoder/direct/services/view/action/contest/launch/SaveDraftContestAction.java b/app/src/main/java/com/topcoder/direct/services/view/action/contest/launch/SaveDraftContestAction.java
index a0f7a66f4..69260aea6 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/topcoder/direct/services/view/action/contest/launch/SaveDraftContestAction.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/topcoder/direct/services/view/action/contest/launch/SaveDraftContestAction.java
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
  */
 package com.topcoder.direct.services.view.action.contest.launch;
 
+import com.topcoder.direct.services.kafka.DirectKafkaProducer;
 import com.topcoder.catalog.entity.Category;
 import com.topcoder.catalog.entity.CompDocumentation;
 import com.topcoder.catalog.entity.CompUploadedFile;
@@ -882,6 +883,12 @@ protected void executeAction() throws Exception {
                 // to make the action robust.
                 addFieldError("competitionType", "The competition type is unknown");
             }
+            try {
+                DirectKafkaProducer.getInstance().postChallengeCreate(softwareCompetition.getId());
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                e.printStackTrace();
+                // log failure to submit to API
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/services/contest_service_facade/src/main/java/com/topcoder/service/facade/contest/CodeNameUtil.java b/services/contest_service_facade/src/main/java/com/topcoder/service/facade/contest/CodeNameUtil.java
index 31b3df7c3..bad043c02 100644
--- a/services/contest_service_facade/src/main/java/com/topcoder/service/facade/contest/CodeNameUtil.java
+++ b/services/contest_service_facade/src/main/java/com/topcoder/service/facade/contest/CodeNameUtil.java
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 import javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec;
 import javax.naming.InitialContext;
 import javax.naming.NamingException;
-import javax.rmi.PortableRemoteObject;
+//import javax.rmi.PortableRemoteObject;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.FileOutputStream;
diff --git a/token.properties.docker b/token.properties.docker
index 1bf309964..89e1e456e 100644
--- a/token.properties.docker
+++ b/token.properties.docker
@@ -349,4 +349,9 @@ defaultGroupIdForTrial =
 
 # The Topcoder Connect Url to which the projects creation will redirect
 TopcoderConnectUrl=https://connect.topcoder-dev.com
-TopcoderNewAuthUrl=https://accounts-auth0.topcoder-dev.com
\ No newline at end of file
+TopcoderNewAuthUrl=https://accounts-auth0.topcoder-dev.com
+
+#####################################
+# Bus API                        #
+#####################################
+bus.api.url=https://api.topcoder-dev.com/v5/bus/events
\ No newline at end of file